


The Chase

by OpalizedFossil



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 00:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12946908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpalizedFossil/pseuds/OpalizedFossil
Summary: Five years later, Lars returns to earth and takes Emerald on their first actual date.





	The Chase

The attic hasn’t changed much in the past five years, it seems, except for the half a decade’s worth of dust that has settled on the curtains and furniture and the fact that the bed has been made, the sheets tucked in tight around the mattress and the plumped pillows gone flat from disuse, the way only a mother can ever so neatly make a bed. A magazine and a stack of mail, unopened transcripts from the nearby community college, lay slightly yellowed on the dresser, where one drawer still hangs half-open, an unfolded shirt draping haphazardly over its outer edge.

Lars exhales unsteadily into the musky air. “Wow.”

Emerald watches from her place beside him, one hand stroking soothing circles on his lower back as he takes in the sight of his bedroom, just as he had left it so long ago. Five years ago, he had had no reason to believe that he wouldn’t come home to his bed on that fateful night, his greatest problems coping with his crippling absence of self-esteem and desire to fit in with the Cool Kids.

Instead, he had been abducted and stolen away into space, away from his friends and family and everything he had ever known, where he had not only cheated death a dozen times or more, but had happened upon, by the greatest mercy of fate, the love of his life. Emerald had come to him as not only an enemy, but as the very gem intended to kill him. By all accounts, it shouldn’t have been her at his side now, tucked underneath his arm, but here she was.

And he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“Are you…okay?” Emerald asks him after several minutes of silence.

Absentmindedly, Lars nods, then smiles and chuckles. “Yeah. I’m okay. I’m great. I’m just…really happy to be home.”

Emerald smiles. This has been such a perplexing ordeal for her, coming to earth, leaving her dearly beloved Sun Incinerator, now a grizzled old warship, vacant in the Beta Kindergarten, and now trying to help Lars readjust to the earth culture that she knows entirely too little about. She had been there when Lars emerged from the warp pad into the Crystal Temple to tell his half-human hybrid friend that he was home and for his tearful reunion with his parents. All the way, he kept crying. Emerald doesn’t understand how he can claim to be happy when he’s crying so much, but she tries.

He’s crying again now. He doesn’t make sound, doesn’t so much as sniffle, but Emerald knows it even without looking at him.

Finally, she asks, “If you’re happy, then why are you crying?”

“I’m crying because I’m happy, Emmy,” Lars chuckles, then looks at her, his eyes brimming with overwhelmed emotional tears, before unexpectedly scooping her into his arms, now wound tight with muscle and tendon after years aboard the Sun Incinerator, and carrying her over to the neatly made bed, where he promptly drops her before plopping down heavily beside her, “C’mere, baby.”

Eagerly, Emerald climbs into the comfortable warmth of his chest, the smell of him so safe and familiar, and nestles into his embrace. He holds her tightly around the waist, then smothers her with a kiss, before pulling away and prompting, “What about you? How are you…doing?”

“I’m fine?” Emerald more asks him than tells him, confused as to why she wouldn’t be. Certainly, it’s been a transition, spending the past few weeks living quietly in the Crystal Temple while he contemplates how to come home and present himself to his parents after all this time, but she hasn’t been unhappy. She’s had him, after all.

Lars chuckles, then presses his forehead lightly to hers, smiling softly as he peers into that one gleaming green eye. “You’ve been great, Emmy.”

“I’m always great,” she reminds him, grinning mischievously, and he chuckles good-naturedly before pressing a kiss to her snub nose.

“I think you deserve a reward,” he tells her.

Emerald’s brows fly up underneath that golden crown that rests across her forehead in surprise. “Won’t your parents hear us?”

Lars laughs. “Not that kind of reward, Emmy. How about tomorrow, I introduce you to a little earth culture, hmm?”

“Earth culture? Like what?” Emerald wonders aloud.

Lars only smiles, resting his chin on top of her head, the wild mane of mossy green hair tickling his skin, and closes his eyes, beckoning to the familiar embrace of sleep now that he’s, at long last, safe at home in his own bed. “You’ll see, baby.”

The following morning, Emerald sleeps in - always a heavy sleeper, on the occasions that she does sleep - while Lars ventures downstairs to make breakfast with his parents. Seeing her son, now five years older, a handsome man of twenty-five, coming down the stairs from the attic to join them, Martha bursts into tears all over again, hugging him close to her chest and sobbing into the cloudy softness of his hair, telling him again and again how much she loves him and how she could never bear to lose him again.

Lars kisses his mother’s forehead, does what he can to reassure her, then sits down and has breakfast with his parents for the first time in what feels like centuries. Afterwards, he ventures into the guest bathroom to shower, something else that he’s desperately missed, and returns to find Emerald chatting chummily with his mom and dad. It’s a pleasant surprise; Emerald isn’t ordinarily very social or very friendly, much less both at once.

Lars smiles as he listens to them, Emerald pointing to a photograph of him as a toddler hanging in a decorative frame on the far wall. “This is Lars? When he was an infant?”

Martha chuckles. “Yep! That’s our Laramie! Cute little guy, wasn’t he?”

Emerald nods. “Yes, I suppose he was.”

“You and Lars thinking about having kids someday?” Martha teases, grinning mischievously. Emerald blushes brilliant chartreuse and stutters something before Lars swoops in to save her, laughing.

“Okay, Mom, that’s enough questions,” he says as he reaches for Emerald’s hands, cupping them in his as he guides her towards the door, leaving her there only long enough to swoop back in and give his mother a quick peck on the cheek, “We’ll be back later, okay? Shouldn’t be more than a few hours. I’m just taking Emmy out for a lunch date.”

Martha laughs. “Wearing that? Nothing fancy, I hope.”

Lars shrugs. “We’ve been on the run for the past five years. She’s never actually been on a date.”

Martha scoffs at him, incredulous. Lars only chuckles, hugs her, and tells her bye, then shuffles Emerald out the door before anything more can be said on the matter. No, he hadn’t wined and dined her quite like he had hoped to in the past five years, but he had saved her gem nearly as often as her keen senses, space-venturing prowess, and piloting skills had spared him his life in their time together, so the trust and love between them had been almost innate, blossoming all on its own, without the need for frivolous things like dates. And it wasn’t like he could take her to dinner and a movie in space.

“Where are we going?” Emerald asks as he leads her down the sidewalk, around the corner, and out of the small Beach City suburbs, out onto the familiar concrete expanse of the boardwalk, mostly empty even at peak lunch hour on this cool autumn day, the summer rush having long since passed.

He has to stop for a moment, emotional yet again at the sight of the boardwalk where he had spent his childhood and his teenage years, up until the very day when he had been abducted and his life had taken a turn. It’s a sunny day, the sky a bright clear blue, and the autumn air is pleasantly cool, unlike the overbearing warmth of summer. He can smell the salt of the sea nearby, mingling sweetly with the greasy aroma of the fry shop and the pizza place and all the restaurants he’s unexpectedly missed. Something about it is beautiful.

“Lars?”

Emerald’s voice reminds him that he isn’t alone and, squeezing her hand, he smiles and informs her, “Thought we’d go somewhere special for lunch.”

“Oh, okay,” Emerald agrees, following along happily beside him. She doesn’t mind to eat; she’s eaten before, partaken in strange otherworldly foods on the scattered colonies that they’ve visited over the years. She had even eaten dinner with him and his family last night. Already, that was one small part of earth culture that she was acclimated to.

“C’mon,” Lars says with a smile as he holds the door for her, escorting her into Fish Stew Pizza, inwardly surprised at how much he has to stop and savor that fishy greasy aroma as it assaults his senses on his way through the door. He’s missed this.

Emerald ventures inside and, right away, she senses that she and Lars attract attention, a blatant alien in a tight-fitting uniform and an eerily pink human dressed down in skinny jeans and a faded old tee shirt. She starts to shy away, until she feels the familarity of Lars’ hand on her lower back, guiding her over to a table by the window and pulling her chair out for her. Obediently, Emerald sits.

Lars sits down across from her, then can’t help the huge grin that spreads across his face when he hears footsteps coming, already anticipating who it is.

Jenny drops the stack of menus and quite frankly gapes. “Lars?”

Laughing, Lars beams up at her. “Hey, Jenny!”

“Lars Barriga?” Jenny gapes, then gives him a playful slap on the shoulder, “Shut up! It’s really you!”

Lars grins as he flashes her a cheesy pair of finger guns. “In the flesh! How’ve you been?”

“Pretty good, I guess,” Jenny replies with a shrug, then glances over at Emerald as she bends down to retrieve the dropped menus, restacking them neatly, “Who’s this?”

“This is Emerald,” Lars tells her, and he can’t help the way his voice swells with pride, “My girlfriend.”

Jenny gapes at him again. “Damn, boy! You really out here dating aliens!”

“I really am,” Lars chuckles, “You still hear from Buck and Sour Cream? Are they doing okay?”

“Yeah, they’re just fine,” Jenny replies, “Hey, we should hang out sometime! All of us, just like old times! Emerald can come, too!”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun!” Lars eagerly agrees.

Jenny smiles, then sets a menu down in-between them. “Alright, it’s set, then. But, right now, anything I can get for you two?”

“Just give us a pepperoni pizza, please. Large. Two sodas.”

“Can do,” Jenny agrees, then jots something down on her notepad and waltzes off to retrieve their order.

Emerald watches her leave. “Old friend?”

“Yeah,” Lars replies, “Her name’s Jenny.”

“So I gathered,” Emerald says with a nod, then is promptly distracted by the strong greasy smell of their approaching pizza, which Jenny sets down in-between them before offering them each an empty white plate.

“Be right back with those drinks,” Jenny says, before walking away again.

Lars notices how Emerald’s nose is twitching fitfully and grins delightedly. “Smells good, doesn’t it?”

“It smells absolutely delicious,” Emerald agrees, then watches how Lars takes a piece and transfers it to his plate, strings of cheese stretching across the tabletop along the way. Something about the stretch of it just looks so unexplainably appetizing. Carefully, she replicates his actions, as she nearly always does in unfamiliar situations.

Jenny returns with two cups of cola, setting them down. “Here you go!”

Lars nods. “Thanks, Jenny.”

“So, not to be nosy,” Jenny says, “but I gotta ask. How did you two meet?”

“Oh, I was a bounty hunter sent to send Lars to his doom, after he stole my fastest military vessel,” Emerald answers before Lars has the chance to explain, “But, he seduced me and we fell in love. It was really quite romantic.”

Lars can’t help but laugh. “Oh, jeez, Emmy!”

“That sounds like quite the story,” Jenny remarks.

“It’s a long story,” Lars agrees, “After I was abducted, Steven and I were put on trial on Homeworld. That’s where Emmy’s from. Steven’s family, too. We escaped, but something happened and I guess I kinda…died?”

Jenny stares at him.

“You know what? I’ll explain later,” Lars remarks, “Anyways, I was left behind with this band of defective gems that Homeworld didn’t want, so we stole this ship. And guess what? It belonged to Emmy.” He smiles over at her and she blushes. “It was a bit of a game of cat and mouse after that. She would chase me, I would always escape, and then, one day, she finally caught me. She was going to turn me in, reclaim her ship, let her life go back to normal, but then…”

“I let him go,” Emerald states.

Lars smiles, his hand holding gently onto hers atop the table. “And I said to her, ‘You really do have a heart, don’t you, Emerald?’”

“For you,” Emerald replies, “Maybe I really do.”

Jenny snorts with laughter, startling them both. “Jeez, you two are gonna make me throw up, staring at each other with the stars in your eyes, like you’re about to make some great profession of love! Get a room, you two!” She gives Lars a playful swat with a menu, then tucks it back under her arm.

“I’m afraid the great profession of love has already happened,” Lars laughs, “and the room, too.”

“Enough!” Jenny chuckles, then starts to walk away, “I better get back to work, before you two start makin’ bedroom eyes at each other again! Enjoy your meal!”

“Thanks, Jenny,” Lars says, then looks back at Emerald and shakes his head before returning his attention to his pizza, biting into it eagerly. He’s embarrassed when he has to fight down a shudder as the forgotten greasy, cheesy flavor fills his mouth, chewing enthusiastically. He didn’t realize how much he had missed this.

Across from him, Emerald nibbles on her slice a little more delicately, the flavor entirely new to her, appreciating the human ingenuity of it as she tastes cheese and pepperoni for the first time, her first slice quickly disappearing before she reaches for a second. Between the two of them, the pizza is gone in half an hour, accompanied by much chatting and laughing and enjoying each other’s company.

Emerald sips her soda, surprised when the carbonation bubbles in her nose, then giggles happily. “This is fun.”

“Yeah,” Lars agrees, “I’m…kinda sorry this is the first time we’ve gotten to do something like this together. We’ve been together a long time, but…it’s always been running away and fighting for our lives and being afraid and…” He inhales, then exhales, smiling at her warmly. “I’m just really glad we can finally enjoy being together, Emmy.”

“I’ve…always enjoyed it,” Emerald tells him, fiddling with the straw in her soda, then smiling at him sweetly, “Even if the circumstances were less than ideal, I wouldn’t change any of it.”

Lars smiles. “Me, either.”

A few minutes later, Lars rises from his chair, pays their bill, and bids Jenny farewell, then ventures back out onto the boardwalk with Emerald. He pauses and inhales deeply of the salty sea air, smiling faintly to himself as his lush cottony ponytail drifts softly in the afternoon breeze.

Emerald smiles. “You look happy.”

“I am happy,” Lars tells her, then reaches for her hand, “Now, c’mon, there’s so much I wanna show you!”

Lars stops by the fry shop to say hello to his old friend Ronaldo, then easily spends an hour and a half divulging the details of his space adventure after Ronaldo takes immediate notice of Emerald, babbling excitedly about how she really is an alien, before telling him that they have to go, but he’ll be sure to visit soon and tell him more. Then, Lars takes them to the nearby arcade, where he introduces Emerald to the concept of video games and immediately realizes that he’s made a mistake, laughing happily alongside her as she falls victim to their addictive lure, spending two whole hours blissfully wasting time and quarters before he finally escorts her back outside - right in time. 

Lars covers her eyes from behind before he leads her out of the arcade. “C’mon, slow steps. I’m behind you. You trust me not to let you trip and fall, don’t you? There you go.” Slowly, he walks her across the boardwalk, until she feels the firm concrete suddenly vanish out from underneath her feet, her boots sinking into something much softer instead. Lars steadies her with a hand on her waist as he walks her out onto the beach, where the waves lap sweetly at the bleached white sand, filling their ears with the rhythmic lull of the sea.

“Alright, Emmy,” Lars whispers in her ear as he rests his chin on her shoulder from behind, slowly pulling his hand away from her eyes, “Look at this.”

Above the sparkling, glistening sea, the sun sets in a sky streaked with oranges and pinks and yellows, the pretty pastel colors reflected brilliantly in the water below. Lars watches in simple adoration as Emerald takes in the sight of her very first sunset, her one eye going wide and her lips parting vacantly in awe.

After a moment, he speaks up, “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen…”

Lars smiles, then presses a tender kiss to the nape of his lover’s lithe neck. “Emmy?”

Emerald blinks the stars from her eyes, then looks at him, glancing back over her shoulder. “Yes?”

“Wanna dance?” Lars is already reaching for her hands, their fingers tangling. Emerald smiles, nods, and lets him twirl her around to face him, one of his hands venturing down to cup her hip while the other holds tightly to her hand, swaying gently.

The sunlight catches on the facets and cuts of Emerald’s gemstone so that it twinkles out from her face with a life of its own, sparkling brilliantly. “Wow,” Lars comments, smirking softly.

“What?” Emerald prompts, knowing that, with him, that damned mischievous smirk is never good.

“You’re beautiful,” Lars tells her, then twirls her around, before promptly capturing her hips in both arms and dipping her dramatically, gazing down at her with all of his love shining brightly in those dark eyes of his.

Emerald gazes up at him, starry-eyed, her cheeks tinged softly with the chartreuse of her blush, then yelps in surprise when he suddenly drops her, flopping flat on her back in the soft, white sand underneath them. Shocked, she can only lay there for a moment, before his laughter breaks her out of her daze.

Lars grins down at her. “Whoops!”

“Why, you!” Emerald scrambles to her feet, Lars already starting to run. “Get back here!”

But, Lars is already ten feet ahead of her, plumes of sand rising behind him as he runs down the beach, laughing and smiling and glancing back at her over his shoulder. Emerald laughs, too, tripping and stumbling drunkenly in the sand, unused to anything but concrete and metal underneath her feet.

Both of them already know how this will end.

She always chases him and he always runs. But, in the end, she’ll always catch him, and she’ll always let him go, and he’ll always come back to her. And in the end, they’ll have found a way that both of them can win.


End file.
